Subject to Change
by xXxCharlyxXx
Summary: Draco Malfoy is found half dead in a deserted field and it's up to Hermione and her co-worker to find out his secrets. When she finds out, will she continue to send him to Azkaban or try to get him off the trial without punishment? R&R. D/H
1. Chapter 1

Title: Subject To Change (yes this is the full working title, not that the title is subject to change)

Rating: T

Characters: Draco/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Ron/OC

Summary: When Draco Malfoy is found half dead in a deserted field and it's up to Hermione and her co-worker to find out his secrets. When she finds out, will she continue to send him to Azkaban or try to get him off the trial without punishment?

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or The Fray's songs.

Chapter 1: Dead Wrong

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><p>If only I knew what I know, I'd make it a point to say so, To everyone that got me here, And everyone that made it clear.<br>I was dead wrong all along.

Dead Wrong ~ The Fray

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><p>Hermione stared out her window; she never thought she would say it but work was starting to get boring. As a criminal psychologist for wizards (and witches), she had to deal with a variety of patients but there had not been many death eater captures in months and the patients she had helped most recently were soon to be better - not that she wished ill health on her patients or anything of the sort.<p>

The last successful 'raid', as the aurors called it, resulted in a captured Death Eater and his wife with post-traumatic stress disorder. None of the latest searches had featured any Death Eaters, or anyone else for that matter. Most had been caught and placed in Azkaban apart from the few who had memories which were needed to prosecute another delinquent with a... tricky background.

Since the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione had completed her NEWTs and had become a healer at St Mungo's. Specialising in psychology, the brainy witch had been asked to help the ministry with some rather unusual cases. She had then decided that this was the job for her. Although she helped defeat the death eaters during Voldemort's uprising, she was now using her scientific abilities to help them conquer their problems and make the world a better place. Especially seeing as she had already won the protest for S.P.E.W. and the protest to keep dementors from, well, dementing the prisoners.

On this rainy day, however, the view was cold, wet and dark. A storm was brewing and this witch knew that she would get wet on her way home, for she had forgotten her umbrella - or as Mr Weasley liked to call it: her "umbrebera". Living life as a muggle in this part of London was partly a relief for Hermione; she could have many muggle neighbours and friends in this fine area of town. Yet it would look very suspicious if she just apparated in front of her house completely dry. Moreover, she liked to use the time on the knight bus to think about her patients and her work; it was a full time occupation. She would be on call during the night and spent most the daylight hours at her work. Of course, she had weekends off.

After looking at the clock and seeing that her shift was almost over, Hermione started to pack up her files and papers. She grabbed her bags and made her way towards the door from her office until she caught sight of a group of people coming towards the front doors through the large window behind her desk.

The office rarely had visitors so Hermione guessed they weren't here to celebrate a social occasion. It was probably another group of aurors with a death eater. _Perhaps Harry would be with them this time? _Hermione thought as she hurried down the stairs. Why they didn't create a lift in this place was a story for another day; for it was a story with a lot of confusion and annoyance in.

As she approached, she could hear the group talking amongst themselves. They were crowded around a figure that was being carried on a makeshift stretcher which, if you must know, was a standard piece of equipment in the medical kit issued out to all aurors. That they had been made to create a makeshift stretcher instead of a real one was not a good sign.

"Hermione?" Asked one of the people in cloaks whilst taking down his hood.

"Harry! It's great to see you again," Hermione rushed over to see her old friend, "Who am I to thank this time?" she inquired, referring to the wizard on the stretcher.

"Guess." He stated.

Hermione gave a sigh of exasperation; a sound well known to Harry and Ron. "Give me a clue at least."

"We used to see this person at Hogwarts."

"Right, Snape's already... deceased so it's not him. The Carrows are incarcerated. Karkaroff was murdered by one of Voldemort's own men. They were the only men and women with the dark mark there." Hermione worked out, confused.

"Well," Harry started, "what if he wasn't exactly a 'man' then?"

"You mean . . ." Hermione's eyes grew wider.

"Yes. We found Draco Malfoy."

"Is he okay?" She asked whilst silently hoping the answer was yes.

"No. No, he's not, actually. It wasn't us though! Strangely he was hurt before we got there. When we found him, he was lying in a deserted field with the dark mark floating above his body. It looked like there had been a fight and as soon as we arrived at his body, we saw that he was half dead. I'm guessing that whoever did it wasn't betting on us coming along. I have no idea what amount of spells were used but it wasn't a pretty sight – we cleaned him up as much as possible though. He's in a right state – come and see." He took Hermione's hand and led her over to the medical room where the other aurors had taken Malfoy.

The 20 year old was lying face up on a bed not unlike one in St Mungo's. His white-blond hair was stained red with, Hermione assumed, his own blood. The steely grey eyes that she and Harry had grown so used to being glared at by were open, even though Draco did not look awake or at all aware of his surroundings. He looked lost in unpleasant thoughts, like he was in a trance and he was whimpering and shivering uncontrollably. It was a creepy sight which made Hermione wonder what her old enemy had been subject to.

Healers were scurrying to and from the bed trying to administer potions that didn't seem to help much. Because Hermione had trained as a healer for some time, she went over to help with the seemingly ineffective task.

Once they had gotten Malfoy into a manageable state, Hermione grabbed a Patient Sheet and started to fill it in, although she knew she couldn't know all of the details. He had never told her his middle name, though she assumed it was Lucius, and she didn't know whether he had a spouse or not. Harry, feeling left out, peered over her shoulder.

"You know, I can't even remember when his birthday was." He pondered. "I don't remember him ever celebrating."

"Yes you do, remember. It was that time when Slytherin had won a quidditch match and you and Ron were convinced that it was only because he had been given a bottle of _Felix Felicis_ for a present..."

"Oh. Oh, yeah."

There was silence as both Harry and Hermione reminisced about their school days that seemed so long ago. They recalled every spell, every charm, every time that they had broken the rules, every detention, every insult, every Dumbledore's Army meeting, every house cup, every potion, every friend and every enemy.

"Excuse me." A happy witch appeared in front of them. With her brown-red hair in pigtails, she looked young and naive. Hermione knew this was just an illusion.

"Ah, Sienna," said Hermione as she greeted her co-worker, "You're early."

"Am I?" The witch looked at the clock, "I am! Wow. That's a surprise. Very unusual..."

Hermione smiled; some people would think Sienna was a klutz but she was not. She only kept up the pretence because she felt insecure. Hermione had worked this out on Sienna's first day. In fact, Sienna's other personality reminded Hermione of a witch she used to know. A witch named Luna Lovegood.

"Oh!" Sienna suddenly remembered, "I came here to ask you if you wanted to take this patient as a coalition. I don't think I'm fully up for a D-Death Eater yet..."

"Um," Hermione deliberated, "That would be fine by me." She caught sight of Sienna grinning.

"I don't believe we've met," Harry began, "My name's Harry."

"Yeah, I'm quite new here. Wait, did you mean Harry Potter? As in _the_ Harry Potter!"

"That's me." Harry replied, giving her one of his famous smiles.

Sienna quickly grabbed the hand that Harry had offered to her and shook it fervently.

"I've heard all about you; I've read all your interviews since the ones in the Quibbler: I had them delivered to me while I was at Beauxbatons." She explained.

"So you believe in Rumple Snored Horbacks or whatever they're called?"

"Crumple-Horned Snorkacks." She replied defensively.

"I guess that's a yes," Harry whispered to Hermione, "Anyway, I should be going now. See you at The Burrow on Friday?"

Dinners at the Weasley's were no longer every night, thankfully. Not everyone showed up until it became more of a weekly thing. Mrs Weasley started the scheme after the Battle – after Fred died. Hermione diagnosed it as being because she wanted to surround herself with people in order to forget about her son's death. Everyone always tried to come every Friday though, it wasn't great to feel lonely.

"Yes, well, I _should _be going but this one might cause some trouble."

"You can rely on Malfoy to do that. Ron told me that Mrs Weasley ha something planned this week. We don't know what though but if we find out, we'll tell you. See you soon, Hermione, Sienna." He nodded at them as he passed.

"So," said Sienna, "Where do we start?"

"Usually you'd try to identify him but we've already done that. Next you would: _Scougify!_" Hermione pointed her wand at the unconscious figure on the bed.

"Oh thank Merlin, I was hoping you'd do that part. Spells aren't exactly my strong point. I would've messed it all up."

They sat in silence for a while. Hermione tried to find a reason for the Death Eaters giving up one of their own – especially when their numbers were so scarce. What had Malfoy done to upset them? She had better find out before the trial, she thought. It could influence the result.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Sienna,

"You used to know him, didn't you? What... What was he like?"

"He-he was a total jerk. He hated Mudbloods, Gryffindors, Harry Potter, Blood Traitors, pretty much the whole idea of the 'Golden Trio' and I suppose half-breeds to an extent."

"Ah. Not such a nice guy then."

"Not at all. I mean, he was such a..." She searched for a word to describe him, "Bully, that I actually slapped him in the face in our third year."

"You?" Sienna asked, shocked, "Hermione Granger? Hit someone? In _third _year?"

The girl in question nodded sheepishly though she looked quite proud of the feat she had accomplished.

"What has the world come to?" She laughed, her voice sounding twinkly, "Was he that bad?"

"Yes. He was an arrogant prat. And the most annoying part is that without him we wouldn't have won the war..."

"Oh." Sienna knew enough to not get onto the topic of the war, "Shall we check if the 'arrogant prat' is still breathing?" She said, mocking her friend.

Hermione smiled, "If we have to," she sighed over-exaggeratedly.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I don't really like the writing style for this story. What do you guys think? I meant to update this yesterday but the internet wasn't working and then I couldn't sign in this morning and I had to go to the theatre at 1. Sorry. Anyway, enjoy chapter 2!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Rise Against's songs.

Chapter 2: To Them These Streets Belong

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><p>My hands are soaking in the blood of angels,<br>On broken wings, they collapse (will I see the break of day!)  
>To Them These Streets Belong ~ Rise Against<p>

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><p>A dark grey mist was crawling along the cold stone floor, reaching as if to open the dungeon cell. However, mist does not need to open doors - it can slink through the spaces without leaving a trace to show its existence there. Mist can move on.<p>

In the centre of the dark prison, a blond ragged boy was kneeling over another body. His pale hair and skin reflected the one slit of light that came into the room. He illuminated the room as the moon does the dark sky; like yin and yang. There is always a seed evil in good, and a seed of goodness in evil. All you need to do is let it grow...

.:-LINE BREAK-:.

The young man snapped his eyes open. After waiting a moment for his eyes to adjust to light that he had not seen in a long time, he asked hoarsely, having not used his voice for a while,

"Where am I?"

"You are in a department of St Mungo's." Replied a somewhat familiar voice.

"Then, I'm not dead." He murmured, "Oh shit, why aren't I dead?"

As if reading his mind, the female voice relayed where and how he was found,

"Do you remember anything else?" She asked.

_Fuck, yes._ He thought but as he didn't want to talk and think about it, he just nodded. He screwed up his eyes, hoping the memories were just a dream. They weren't.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Said the voice that had yet to come into Draco's view.

"Depends who you are. For all I know, you could be a Death Eater in disguise. That's unlikely though, you're a ministry freak, right?"

"I suppose so," She replied, "Though it's not exactly my job title. Now, are you going to tell me who it was that tried to kill you or will you make me go and get some Veritaserum?"

"Veritaserum," He scorned, "The followers of the Dark Lord just use torture – costs less too. If you want to know so badly, why haven't you just read my mind?"

"Because," She started, "It is against ministry policy to use it without the prisoner's permission."

"So I'm a prisoner. And what are the grounds on which I am being held?" Arrogance tainted his words.

"For being a Death Eater, of course!" Now that he thought about it, it _was_ somewhat obvious, "Now tell me who it was that tried to kill you!" She was getting angry and he was having fun tormenting her.

"What would the outcome be if I proved that I was only a Death Eater because I was forced?"

"Just tell me who tried to kill you!" She said frustrated.

"Now, now, Granger," he heard a sharp intake of breath, "I'm getting to that. It was the remaining Death Eaters that _you_ haven't captured yet."

"You're blaming us! Oh, that's rich coming from one of them," It was a well-known fact that Hermione usually could not shut up for long – she was too inquisitive. "Why were the Death Eaters killing you anyway?"

"I'd rather not say." Hermione noticed how his face fell slightly and his eyes softened when he said this.

"We'll all find out at the trial, anyway." She turned and left the room, giving Malfoy his first sight of her. She looked very similar to when they were at school. Her hair was less bushy and slightly darker than when he had last seen her and she looked more... elegant, almost.

Once she had exited the room, she walked into her and Sienna's shared office.

"Good morning," her co-worker beamed.

"Not really. Malfoy's awake," she answered solemnly.

"Oh goodie!" Then, once Sienna noticed she was receiving a glare, she corrected herself, "I mean, let's see if he has any psychological disorders and diagnose him."

"He seemed well enough to me," Hermione huffed.

"You know," Sienna smiled wistfully, "Maybe you should put your past behind you. It's been a while since you last saw each other; perhaps he's changed."

"I'll do that when he does."

"Well I'm taking you back there." As suddenly as she said this, she grabbed Hermione's arm and dragged her into the room containing Malfoy.

When she slammed the door open, both girls were shocked into silence at the sight before them.

Inside, the pallid patient was sitting with his back towards the door. He was holding a quill that Hermione had left inside the room earlier. Blood stained parts of the floor.

His head snapped round and for a moment, his metallic eyes were confused. However, this swiftly changed to anger at being caught. Sienna rushed forwards whilst Hermione grabbed Malfoy's scarred left arm to see what he had been doing.

Then she realised he had been scraping his skin – and by the look of his forearm, for a long time. It only took another moment for everything to click into place in her mind.

"He was scratching away his Dark Mark," she said quietly, astounded, "He seems to have been having a go at it for a few weeks, maybe months, but my guess is that it's imprinted into his skin cells and therefore impossible to get rid of without magic."

Hermione looked over into the resigned eyes of Hogwarts' bully. He had certainly matured since then if his eyes were anything to go by. He stopped glaring at Sienna and herself and lowered his head. She swore she saw a lone tear fall into his lap... Draco 'the ferret' Malfoy crying in front of someone? What had the world come to?

-Afternoon

"He used to cry in front of Moaning Myrtle in sixth year," said Harry after Hermione informed him and Ron about what had happened that morning.

That incident had almost become a cursed topic. They all knew how close Malfoy had been to dying then and, although none of them had liked him, they didn't hate him so much as to want him to pass away. At least, not at that moment in time. Hermione could only imagine how it must have felt for both the 16 year olds.

"He's a two-faced cry-baby – that's what he is," Ron said vehemently, "If I was there, Harry, I'd have just left him to die. Traitorous git..." Ron's insults grew quieter and quieter.

"Right," Hermione said to shut him up, "So, do you know what your mum has planned for Friday yet?"

"Nah, not exactly. I did see a package from Rent-A-Pensieve. Perhaps that has something to do with it?" Ron shrugged.

"A pensieve? Are you sure? D'you think it'll be another of those bonding exercises?" Harry asked.

"Dunno. Hope not though. Don't think I could survive anymore of them."

"In my opinion, they are a clever idea. We've all been growing apart and need to remember the reason Voldemort was defeated: love. It's very good when used effectively" Hermione voiced her opinion, to which Harry replied,

"Yeah. Like you said, 'when used effectively'."

Harry and Ron high-fived each other wearing goofy grins. It was as if they'd never grown up.

"You guys can be unbearable sometimes, you know that?" Hermione joked.

"It may have been mentioned a few times..."

"...but that's why you love us!" Ron completed Harry's sentence.

Love had become a bit of a touchy subject since Ron and Hermione had broken up in May and, for that reason, they all ignored the comment.

"Ah, is that the time?" said Harry, looking at his wiz-watch he had been given for his birthday by Molly Weasley. It was just like the Weasley's grandfather clock but with less people and an added time-telling application. "I'd better be off – the minister wants a report on the discovery of Malfoy."

"Oh! I forgot to tell you earlier but before Sienna and I had found him, um, _hurting _himself, he had filled in the rest of the form and left it on the table. Here, I brought over a copy for you but I haven't had a chance to read it yet."

Hermione pulled the parchment out of her pocket and handed it over. All three of them looked over at it.

**Full name: Draco Lucius Silas Malfoy  
>Gender: Male<br>Date of Birth: 05/06/1980  
>Marital status: Unmarried<br>****Date of the Dark Mark: 19/07/1996****  
>Hair colour: Blond<br>Eye colour: Grey  
>School: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry<br>Father's full name: Lucius Abraxas Salvius Malfoy  
>Father's Date of Birth: 1311/1954  
>Father's Date of Death (if applicable): 1508/2000  
>Mother's full name: Narcissa Calypso Malfoy nee Black<br>Mother's Date of Birth: 25/03/1955  
>Mother's Date of Death (if applicable): 2208/2000**

"The 15th and 22nd August? But... It's only the 7th September now."

Harry looked over at Hermione and Ron. Even though Malfoy was his archenemy at school, he didn't want anyone to have the pain of losing their parents _after _the Second Wizarding War was over. Everyone was supposed to get on now.

"Two less for us to find though."

Hermione and Harry turned to stare at the speaker angrily.

"He's lost both his parents in the past month! Have a little sympathy!" Hermione cried, times like this reminded her of why they split up.

"I was just trying to look on the bright side. Anyway, they deserved to die! In case you don't remember, they were on the bad side!" His voice grew louder towards the end of his speech.

"Technically, they were neutral, and even if they weren't, they shouldn't have died until justice was served. Oh, the Daily Prophet is going to have a hippogriff when they find out."

"At least it'll get them off_ my_ case. You'd think that two years later they'd have gotten over it but no. Of course not. Just my luck."

They all laughed at Harry's tone of voice. He had put on a posh yet sulky British accent to try to lighten the mood and stop another argument.

"As I said before, I have to go. Bye, guys."

"See you soon, Harry," Ron replied, clapping his raven-haired friend on the back.

"I should be going too," Hermione concurred, "Goodbye."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it took so long.**

Disclaimer: I do not own the lyrics or Harry Potter.

Chapter 3: It's all over now

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><p><em>See, my friend, you won't have time to change your destiny,<em>  
><em>Everyone can see the choice you made was wrong, all wrong. <em>

_It's All Over Now ~ Tania Maria_

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><p>Hermione Granger walked through the white double doors and into the new building where she worked. Pausing to wave at the smiling receptionist, she began her trek up the 24 steps and into her office. Sienna was sitting at her desk putting some multi-coloured paper-clips into her hair.<p>

"Oh hi. I never saw you enter," She smiled.

"That's okay," replied Hermione, "How's the patient?"

"He doesn't speak much," Sienna pondered, "In fact, I don't think he's spoken a word to me!"

"That's very... peculiar. It's not like a Malfoy not to speak. Usually they try to insult everything - especially at other people's expenses."

"Look Hermione," Sienna said, beginning another of her 'lectures', "If you don't believe people can change, why are you here? This department of the ministry," She enunciated every syllable clearly, "is here to change Death Eater's views! We help them to understand that believing in blood purity is... wrong." She finished earnestly.

Hermione looked at her feet and the dark purple carpet below. "Malfoy's not like those other Death Eaters. He's not human enough to be a person! He's believed in blood purity for his whole life and I don't think that's about to change now."

"How do you know?"

"Huh? Know what?"

"That he accepted it as the truth for his whole life."

"Trust me: if you had seen his behaviour at Hogwarts, you would understand why I fail to consider your statement as if it were even slightly the truth."

"Whatever."

"Is there something you're not telling me, Sienna?" Hermione hated not knowing pieces of information.

"Maybe," She taunted, "Let's just say he talks in his sleep – well, 'screams' would be a better word to use."

"What did he say?"

"Just some stuff about someone called Kelsey. I think she might have been a friend who he used to know. Every so often he yells 'no' and one time he whispered 'not my mother'."

"His mother died a fortnight ago," Hermione explained.

"What? Really? How did you find out?"

"It was on the form he filled out."

"Oh... Do _you _have that? If not, I may have accidentally lost it... Please don't be mad!"

"It's okay Sienna," Hermione patted her friend's back, "I have it here."

Hermione took the original copy with the calligraphic handwriting out of her coat pocket (she preferred not to wear robes since she liked to ride muggle transport to work) and smoothed it out on the wooden desk.

"Do you think we should let him do something to commemorate his parents?" Sienna asked, twirling a strand of her auburn hair around her delicate fingers.

"What do you suggest?"

Hermione was slightly sceptical of whether Sienna would be able to think recommend anything sensible. That would just be out of character.

"Perhaps a bluebell flames vigil?"

"He's not even permitted cutlery and you've just asked to allow him fire! Did you read the rulebook or did you just use it as confetti?" Hermione teased, familiar with her sub-ordinate's tendencies. They were the reasons she never enabled Sienna to borrow her books. It wasn't that she was being mean – it was well known that her colleague used just about anything in her 'creations', and if you let her do _that_ you'd never see that object again.

"What about if he's supervised?" She battered her long dark-blue mascara-tinted eyelashes, trying to appeal to her friend's better nature.

"He would _not_ like that."

"It's better than nothing and surely he can recognise that! Please!" Sienna sank to her knees and clasped her hands together, begging. "For me?"

Hermione groaned. Sienna could always change her mind and most annoyingly, she couldn't stay angry at her for long.

"Fine. Who's going to watch over him then?"

"Well... He refuses to communicate with me so..."

The brown-haired witch narrowed her eyes, "You owe me so bad."

"Yay!" Sienna cheered, "I'm going to tell him right now!"

She flounced out of the room only to return a few moments later.

"According to the rulebook, you are forbidden to bring anything muggle or metal that may potentially harm the patient into his room. I'm still wearing my paperclips..." She grinned sheepishly.

"Well done. I was wondering when you'd notice." Hermione smiled cheekily at her co-worker.

"Very funny," Sienna replied sarcastically in her soprano voice.

She left again, this time without her colourful stationery accessories.

Hermione turned and sighed when she caught sight of the amount of files on her desk, wondering how on Earth she could have accumulated so much parchmentwork when they had only received their first patient in two months the day before. She picked up a fancy letter on her desk that she had not seen before and proceeded to open it. Inside, it read:

The Daily Prophet would like to interview you, Ms Hermione Granger, concerning your work and the newly located, Mr Draco Malfoy. Please contact us through your secretary in order to inform us of when you are available so that we may set up a meeting.

- Lavender Brown, Editor of the Daily Prophet

Hermione read it again. She still couldn't believe that Lavender had managed to become the editor of the leading Wizarding newspaper. She had always assumed that her dorm mate would be more interested in Witch Weekly to be completely honest but, thinking about it, it was much more like Lavender to be only interested in the most important newspaper.

After scribbling a letter to Harry asking whether an interview would even be allowed at this stage in the investigation, she began to descend the stairs to the secretary who would then send the letter on by owl.

Suddenly, she heard a female squeal from the direction of Malfoy's room. At once, she ran to his door and pushed it open. Malfoy and Sienna were hugging.

Well, if you wanted to be technical, Sienna was hugging Malfoy but, most importantly, he wasn't pushing her away. That is, before he caught sight of Hermione. His pales eyes speared her to the door, as cold as icicles.

"Oh, hello!" Sienna beamed at Hermione (who was becoming unnerved by the different expressions of the people in the room), "Did I forget something?"

"No, no. I'll tell you later..." Hermione tried to invent an excuse, "You're obviously making, um, progress here."

Although it was only Malfoy and Sienna, she felt like she was invading on something private. This was Malfoy's first acceptance of a stranger and was something of a momentous occasion for the healing of his psyche.

At that moment, Malfoy was still struggling slightly to get out of Sienna's vice-like grip but Hermione knew that was almost impossible. For such a delicate and slight girl, she was a very strong hugger.

"Good luck with that, Malfoy."

"Hermione! He said yes!"

"I'm not sure why _you're _so excited about that. It won't exactly benefit you." Hermione couldn't help it – being around Malfoy always made her snappy.

"I'm going to get some containers now!" Sienna skipped out of the room excitedly, finally releasing Malfoy much to Hermione's dismay. She would have liked to see him suffer a bit more.

Hermione stood motionless in the room not wanting to attract attention from the prisoner, no, _patient_. She averted her gaze from his person and began to face the door.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing," He commented sharply.

She turned back to him, "And what exactly would that be?" Hermione narrowed her eyes, closing in on her target.

"You're distancing yourself from me." He stepped closer and tried to use his towering presence to intimidate her. Hermione was never very tall but was a respectable 5'5" compared to his 5'10".

"Why would I be doing that?" She pressed.

"I don't know," He smirked, "Perhaps you're scared."

"_Scared? _Of _you?_ You're just a cowardly ferret. Why on Earth would I be scared of you?" Hermione saw a flash of anger run through his eyes as he glared at her.

"You don't know anything about me and you're scared of that," He spat, "You don't like being ignorant of anything... I noticed that – back in Hogwarts," He shook his head and brought his hand to his hair.

"Actually, _you _don't know anything about _me_," Hermione said, huffing and turning away from him.

"I certainly wish I didn't."

Hermione thought about asking him about it but didn't want to give him the satisfaction of her 'wanting' him. Even if it was only to answer a question. She'd find out eventually.

They glared at each other silently and it somehow turned into a non-confirmed staring match. Neither was going to lose willingly.

**There was meant to be extra but this was about 1500 words and I hadn't gotten to the main point of what was going to happen so that'll be until next chapter. I suppose that means this is a filler. Thanks for the reviews but please, if you're going to read this REVIEW!**

**I'd quite like a few more reviews to be honest. And I know a lot of people have added this to faves/story alerts so I'm pleading for reviews now...**

**They'll make me update faster :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I am so so so so sorry that I haven't updated in about forever. It's inexcusable really but I'm going to try anyway. You see, I was at a very big stage in my education until two weeks ago when my summer began. I had hoped to update this on that Sunday (24th) but I didn't manage it. I was then on holiday for a week and between reading fanfiction, family stuff and pottermore news, I didn't manage to update it on Saturday or Sunday. I'm very sorry. Hope you enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Passion's songs.

Chapter 4: Well Done

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><p><em>Wish that I could see you one more time,<em>  
><em>But I know that God holds your life,<em>  
><em>Your battle is finally won...<em>

_Well Done ~ Passion_

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><p><em>Bam!<em>

The metal door opened loudly and swung round to present Sienna, who was juggling a large amount of containers. She somehow managed to crash her way through the door and into Malfoy's room.

"Here we are," she announced in her sing-song voice whilst dropping all the containers onto the floor. She wore a triumphant smile.

"Sienna?" Hermione asked.

"Yes?"

"Um. Exactly how many did you get?"

"Well..." She started to count all the different containers on the floor, lost count and started again. Three. Whole. Times.

"Okay, let me change the question," Hermione interrupted hastily, "Why did you get so many?"

Sienna grinned knowingly, "I feel that this would be a good way to show that everyone on _both _sides has lost someone dear to them during the war and its aftermath. Plus I hope it might help you two to stop trying to kill each other..."

"Right."

The sarcastic opinion was exactly what Hermione was thinking. Except she didn't say it. Hermione looked towards the shadowy figure who had retired to the corner of the room since the practically buzzing Sienna had opened the door.

"And what if I wanted to mourn in private?" He added.

"You're not allowed to be alone with magic. Therefore, you can't mourn privately anyway."

After this, Sienna flounced her way out of the room, the trail of her robes following her and bouncing like excited puppies. Hermione started to pick up the containers and place them in a row. She finished and counted fifteen.

"I'll light them all and then you can just take them one at a time for each person you've lost."

Malfoy nodded silently and, once Hermione had lit them all, picked a container and brought it to his side of the room.

Hermione took one in memory of Dumbledore. She remembered his wise words during their years at Hogwarts and, although McGonagall was now the headmistress, she did not know what it would be like to go to Hogwarts without him there.

Her next was dedicated to Fred Weasley. It was only when she discovered he was dead that she fully apprehended that the Weasleys and other people she loved were not immune to the Death Eater's attacks. She realised that if Fred died, who was to say that any of them would survive? She could feel her eyes begin to tear up but she turned and took two more candles.

These ones were for Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. Hermione could not begin to speculate what Lupin must have been through in his life. The werewolf would have believed that he'd have to live without his three best friends at the age of 21. That three of his best friends, Peter, James and Lily, had all died on the 31st October, 1981, and that all he had left was the traitor in Azkaban. Then, when he found out that Sirius was not, in fact, the betrayer, he had lost his friend again only two years later. Permanently.

And of course, Tonks had only just had her child when she was killed. She would never live to see her son grow and live. And her son, like her friend Harry, would have to suffer because of Lord Voldemort.

This moved her onto her next candle. Tonks had only just lost her father when she died. Ted Tonks: the muggle-born who left his loved ones so that they might live. It was, in Hermione's opinion, the ultimate sacrifice and even she couldn't do it. Instead, she sent her loved ones into hiding, so that they would no longer remember their daughter. It was an event that she would remember and worry about for the rest of her life, always wondering if she took the right choice.

She took another light, acknowledging that Malfoy had also taken five candles. Hermione didn't imagine that he would need many more.

Finally she realised she had forgotten to dedicate a light to Sirius. She knew that Harry really missed him, although only knowing him for two years. It was tragic – the first real loss of the Order in the Second Wizarding War. Sirius seemed so full of life even though he had been in Azkaban for a long time.

Hermione was happy that he and Remus were reunited though. Moreover, though she knew that this was a bad thought, she liked to believe that Remus was better off with Sirius, Tonks and James. And that Sirius would be happier with his friends, despite never having lived through some of the best years of his life (that she had left to come).

Rather belatedly, Hermione realised that most of the candles were for adults. Perhaps it was a sign that she had been very mature for her age... Or possibly, that she didn't have enough friends. On the bright side, it could also mean that she had just been lucky.

_Apart from Faye, _she thought as she took yet another light.

Faye Dunbar was a roommate of Hermione's during school and was always very cheerful and ready to lend a hand. Though they were not particularly close, Hermione liked Faye and, at the beginning of her first year, had envied Faye's new close friendship with the muggle-born Georgia.

In time however, she had become close with Neville and, later on, the boys so this particular feeling of jealousy had long since elapsed.

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, trying to forget these depressing thoughts, she turned to take one last light. As she reached forwards though, she encountered a cool, smooth hand touching her own.

She quickly snapped open her eyes and it wasn't until she registered the surprised look on the supposed 'paragon' (though he was rather good-looking), that she realised what had happened.

"Who's it for?" he asked warily.

Hermione took her time to reply, wanting to cause him as much annoyance as possible, "I'd rather not say."

"Very Gryffindor-ish," he commented snidely.

"How about we both say who on the count of three?"

"One."

Hermione assumed that was equivalent to a 'yes', "Two."

"Three."

"Severus Snape," they both answered at the same time.

"But he-"

"Why would-"

They both began to splutter after speaking simultaneously again.

"You first," Hermione gallantly offered.

"First and foremost, he was my godfather," he revealed.

"And secondly?" She was intrigued now.

"Who says I have a second point?"

"You did – when you said 'first'. Usually that implies there being a second point."

"I don't want to tell you. Why were you so surprised? I mean, he wasn't exactly one of your biggest fans."

Hermione let that sink in for a moment - Malfoy sounded honestly curious.

"He helped the light side, which is more than I can say for some people." She figured that this was relatively polite – she hadn't exactly mentioned any names so it was his choice how he took it.

"Ha! Absolutely pathetic." By the look in his dark eyes (and very large pupils, Hermione noted - probably because of being in the dark for a long time), he seemed genuinely amused that she tried to insult him in such a way.

This was odd. If Hermione wanted to insult someone – which didn't often happen in the first place – she tried to use the truth as it hurt more. Obviously, this technique didn't seem to work for Malfoy.

"That was the definition of 'Draco Malfoy', clearly."

"Of course. If you want to think that, go ahead. I don't particularly care either way." He smirked back cockily and this was the last straw.

Hermione had enough sense to leave the room before she did anything that could get her fired. She was... confused to say the least. This was definitely a new method that Malfoy was specifically using to wind her up. Sadly, it seemed to be working.

She took a further breath and pushed open the door to the patient inside.

_Shit, _she thought. And considering she didn't usually swear, this was big.

* * *

><p><strong>To quote Hermione, 'shit'. I left you on a cliffhanger... Sorry? :3 Oh and guess what, that thing that was meant to happen last chapter... didn't quite make it into this chapter either - have I dragged this on too long? I feel like I have... These two chapters and the next one were planned to be only one chapter...<strong>

**On another note, woohooo for Pottermore xD My username is PatronusEcho199 xD ... ****Is it sad that not only have I memorised my username but I also memorised the other options?**


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